Todd's Plant based Journey

Decided to try some new recipes this weekend. This one was really good. The snowballs are excellent and could really be combined with any type of sauce. We even thought about shaping the into the same shape as chicken fingers and let the kids take them to school for lunch. This recipe is slightly modified from the Quick-Fix Vegan cookbook.

I've never been a couscous fan. I've tried it several times and just did not like it.....until this recipe.

I went to a work potluck and one of my fellow managers brought this salad to the potluck and it was fabulous! Cari made the salad for a camping trip and it was wonderful again. I now ask for this salad frequently because it tastes great and is healthy! The salad is good warm and good the next day right out of the refrigerator.

I love popcorn but I'm always looking for ways to make it tasty! Recently my dear mother shared with me a simple way of making popcorn that is much cheaper than buying the expensive no oil, no salt, no butter stuff at the health food store.

Here's the secret....buy some brown paper lunch bags, put 1/4 cup of popcorn kernels in the bag fold the top of the brown bag down (about 2 folds) and then cook for 2-3 minutes (or until there is more than 2-3 seconds between pops). Enjoy!

So ok, that's good popcorn but with no butter or salt it makes for a pretty tasteless snack. I was just dumping a little Franks Hot Sauce on mine, which would spice it up a bit but also make it soggy. I started looking around the internet and found some interesting recipes. Here's the one I just tried and really enjoy!

With a quick google search there are LOTS of popcorn recipes, just be careful because many of them want you to add oil or butter....stick with the healthy stuff instead!

Disclaimer: There are some mixed opinions as to whether it is unhealthy to make popcorn in brown paper bags. I can't seem to find anything definitive one way or the other but figured I'd let you know in case you had concerns.

A friend at work brought me a bunch of fresh veggies. There were several different kinds of peppers, eggplant, chives and some fresh basil. I decided to look through my various recipe books and adapt a basil pesto recipe to my liking. Here's what I came up with and it's pretty good!

I've been looking for the new recipe for a Creamy Alfredo Sauce but all the recipes seem to have tofu as the base. Recently, in a Facebook post from the Healthy Librarian she shared an idea that came from one of her readers. The idea was to use frozen corn (blended in a food processor) as the base for various sauces or dressings. I wondered about the idea and was concerned the "corn" taste would overpower whatever flavor was intended for the sauce. So I did some experimenting and came up with an Alfredo Sauce that got thumbs up from almost the whole family (we will never make something the youngest "diva" happy). It's super simple and easy to adjust to your own tastes and preferences.

I apologize for the crummy picture and somewhat empty bowl but we had almost finished it off when I remembered that I needed a picture for this blog (yah, it's been awhile since I've done this!).

1. In a food processor blend the thawed corn and soy milk until well blended and creamy.2. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend well.3. Pour into a saucepan and heat it up until it's nice and warm.4. Pour sauce over some fettuccine noodles and enjoy!

Yah, yah....I know, it's been months since I've posted anything but I'm going to try to get posts in little more frequent in the future. The main reason I haven't posted any recipes is because I haven't had time to make many new recipes but with a long Memorial Day Weekend I finally had some time.

Many times my inspiration for new recipes comes from existing non-plant based recipes which I then modify to be a much healthier version. Taste of Home sent me a newsletter with their top 10 recipes for May 2012. The number one recipe is for a Mexican Lasagna. After looking over the recipe, I knew it would be a challenge but decided to try and adapt it to the plant based model by eliminating the meat, cheese and sour cream. I knew I needed something hearty to replace the meat so I ended up using quinoa. The cheese was easy just using some of the familiar cheese replacement recipes I already have and the sour cream can just be left off completely (although, if you have to have it, The Happy Herbivore has an excellent recipe in one of her books.

My Mexican Quinoa Lasagna turned out great and got thumbs up from both my parents, my wife and 2 out of 3 kids.....not too shabby. It does take a little time to make because the lasagna itself has to cook for an hour but it makes about 12 servings so plenty of leftovers for lunches or dinner for the rest of the week. Or it can be used at potlucks or when you have lots of guests over. Here's the recipe for Mexican Quinoa Lasagna....I hope you enjoy it!!

Since Thanksgiving and after making my Turkey Roll using seitan, I decided to try some other seitan recipes. One of the recipes I came across was a recipe for BBQ ribs using seitan. I tried the original recipe and it was pretty good but decided to make a second batch with some adjustments. The second batch of ribs came out GREAT!!

So for our meal tonight, we had a simple salad (pictured left), Seitan Ribs and then I modified a red potato recipe to come up with my own version of Rosemary Potatoes. As always, the true test of my meals is how well the kids like it....and this one was a hit! Nothing was left....ribs...gone....potatoes....gone....ok, they didn't have any salad but the rest of it was a hit!

So when I tell friends that I'm going to be cooking for Thanksgiving they will always ask "On your diet WHAT do you eat?" So to answer that question, here's what I eat! Many people think Thanksgiving isn't Thanksgiving unless you have turkey. So, to start off with I made a Seitan Turkey. Seitan is called the "wheat meat" and is made form vital wheat gluten. Think of it as a dough than when boiled or baked takes on a very similar consistency as meat. Then season like you would meat a woo-hoo a plant based meat for those of us on "my diet". The recipe I used this time is found at the web site Everyday Dish Tv and it's called Vegan Turkey Roast. Recipes links are at the end of this post for everything else!

Turkey Roll with stuffing

Trader Joes Roasted Corn

Cranberry Relish

Scalloped Potatoes

Fruit Salad

Gravy

Dinner Rolls

Cinnamon donut, chocolate donut

Creme Brulee

No meat! No cheese! No dairy! No added oil! No eggs! It's true I promise!

It's that time of the year when we plan for big holiday meals for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Ok, so we don't eat the turkey or ham but many of the other dishes can certainly be plant based and good. For example, mashed potatoes, cranberry, pumpkin, stuffing, fruit salad, green beans and the list goes on. Just in time, Dr. McDougall has published a list of recipes for the holidays. Check them out and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!

Recently, in another blog post, I made the statement about lettuce, "Iceberg is worthless, it is mostly water and has very little nutritional value." But a kind reader (Robert) sent me a nice email response that he too thought iceberg lettuce was low nutritional value until he read this article. The article is written by Jeff Novick, a dietitian, and offers some wonderful insight to the benefits of iceberg lettuce......believe it or not, it competes with romaine!! So, I now consider iceberg lettuce one of my plant based friends.

Finally, a few months after starting a plant based diet I ran into a friend of mine who had recently experienced a heart attack. After some discussion, I shared my recent diet success and the affect on my cholesterol numbers. He listened to my story and decided to do some research into the diet by reading Dr. Esselstyn's Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease book and also the China Study. Dennis is now a strong plant based advocate and has seen some amazing success in his own life. Read his success story on his blog.

Today we drove to Lancaster so Cari could participate in a dog fair thingy. On our way home, the standard question came up, "What's for dinner?" Neither Cari or I had a clue so I told her I would "wing it" and make some kind of black bean soup. So I looked through the fridge and cupboards and came up with the recipe below. Because of the diced tomato with fire roasted peppers it has somewhat of a southwest flair. For the corn, I used Trader Joe's Roasted Corn (frozen) but you can use any corn. One kid said they didn't like the red bell pepper in is, so you may want to leave it out if red bell pepper is not your thing. It turned out very yummy and I plan on making it again soon!! I call it Southwest Black Bean Soup.Southwest Black Bean SoupServings: 4-6

About the Author

Hello, my name is Todd Coston. This site is a dedicated to my journey on a plant based diet. I'm passionate about the benefits of this diet and share my thoughts, resources and recipes through this site. I would love to hear from you, so drop me a line at veggieboy@costons.com.